Battlecruiser
Laid down in January 1915 at Fairfield shipbuilders, she was completed in September 1916. Main armament was 6 x 15in fitted in twin turrets, secondary armament 17 x 4in. Length 794ft and 26,500ton displacement. She was reconstructed between 1936 to 1939, when the 4in guns were upgraded to 4.5in housed in 10 twin turrets, while receiving an enclosed bridge superstructure. World War 2 action in 1940 during the Norwegian campaign, when she engaged the German ships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, hitting the first ship three times, while sustaining three minor hits. In August 1940, she became Flagship to Force H stationed at Gibraltar, which took part in the hunt for the Bismarck in May 1941. She carried Prime Minister Churchill, to Halifax Nova Scotia in 1943, and then to Alexandria in December 1943, before joining the Eastern Fleet. Decommissioning in 1948.
The painting shows her in her wartime Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage scheme circa 1943.